East Hampshire District Council is made
up of 44 councillors elected every four years. Councillors are
democratically accountable to the residents of their ward. The
overriding duty of councillors is to the whole community, but they
have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did
not vote for them.

All councillors meet together for full council meetings six
times a year. These are held in public, and are used
to decide the council's overall policies and set the budget
each year.

Chairman of
EHDC

The first council meeting of the year (held in May) is devoted
largely to appointing the Council Chairman and agreeing membership
of committees and council representatives on outside bodies.

Political
Composition

The current political composition of the council is:

Conservatives - 39

Liberal Democrats - 2

UKIP - 1

Independents - 2

How decisions are
made

EHDC runs on a 'Leader and Cabinet' model. This works in the
same way as the Prime Minister and Cabinet but on a local scale.
The political party which has had the most councillors
elected by the public forms the cabinet, and elects one of its
members as the Leader.

This model was adopted in East Hampshire after the Local
Government Act 2000. Following consultation with local people, 84%
of respondents felt EHDC should introduce a Leader and Cabinet
model, and it was adopted in June 2001.

In this section you can access a wide range of information and
documents relating to the council’s decision making
processes, find out about forthcoming Council meetings and
decisions and obtain details for your local political
representatives.

Committee meeting information

Information regarding Council, Cabinet and committee
meetings. You can find the agendas, minutes of previous
meetings, as well as officer reports discussed at previous
meetings. Information is also provided on dates of future meetings,
and issues that will be discussed in future.

Elected representatives

How to get involved

You can access and sign current ePetitions submitted to this
Council, as well as accessing information on ePetitions that have
already been completed.

It is also possible to subscribe
to updates in order to receive information via e-mail regarding
particular issues and committee meetings.

Filming and Recording Meetings of the Council

East Hampshire District Council is committed to being open and
transparent in the way it conducts its business. The press and
members of the public are therefore welcome to film, photograph or
record decision making in action at any Havant Borough Council
meeting that is open to the public.

The Council also welcomes the use of social media, such as
bloggers, tweeters, Facebook and YouTube users.

The Council has adopted a
Protocol, which provides practical information to assist anyone
considering filming, videoing, photographing, and/or making audio
recordings of meetings or using social media during open Council
meetings.

Outside bodies

Contact deatils for the council representatives on outside
bodies and forums that are independent from the council.